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PHOENIX AERIAL TARGET SYSTEM

In early 2016, UAV Navigation sent a team of engineers to Nowra in Australia to assist Air Affairs Australia (AAA) with fine-tuning the PHOENIX aerial target system. After carrying out a short training course on the software and hardware developed and manufactured by UAV Navigation, the team conducted a series of flight tests, which the system passed with flying colours (check out this video). This is the final stage in an exciting development which enables AAA to offer a complete, high-performance aerial target system to customers worldwide.

PHOENIX has been developed specifically for the Defence Industry as a high performance training solution for a variety of artillery and air defence missile systems. It is able to simulate a realistic high speed threat in excess of 280 kts, with enhancements including a Miss-Distance Indicator (MDI), Infra-Red and multi-spectral smoke and also the integration of a Luneburg lense system to meet the targeting requirements of a wide range of weapon systems, including electro-optical and radar target acquisition. Mission time is up to 90 minutes. The heart of the system is UAV Navigation's Flight Control System (FCS).

The PHOENIX jet is a demanding platform for any FCS. UAV Navigation's FCS consists of an onboard autopilot which is capable of controlling all the onboard systems, including: Engine Control Unit (ECU), all servos, parachute release, datalink, pyrotechnics (smoke etc), Luneburg lens system and MDI. In addition, a complete Ground Control Station (GCS) is provided with the Visionair mission control software which runs on a standard PC. Training on the system is around 5 days.